


Encounter

by JackWolvenstein



Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Avengers (Marvel Movies)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Always Female Tony Stark, Antonia Stark - Freeform, Eventual Romance, Eventual Smut, F/M, Female Tony Stark, Loki - Freeform, Loki is sad, Slow Burn, Tony Stark Has A Heart, Tony Stark Needs a Hug
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-11-23
Updated: 2018-11-23
Packaged: 2019-08-27 23:20:32
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,758
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16711933
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/JackWolvenstein/pseuds/JackWolvenstein
Summary: After the events, if Iron Man 2 and the Avengers, Loki escapes the custody of Thor and Shield out of fear of being brought back as a prisoner and an enemy of Asgard. Justin Hammer escapes prison on payroll and Loki aligns himself with Hammer because of a promise to find him a way home to Asgard without being a prisoner in the hands of his brother Thor. Justin tells Loki to try and gather information from Antonia Stark, the Iron Maiden. Though instead, and much to Loki's own displeasure and confusion, he grows feelings for Antonia.





	Encounter

# Encounter

### Chapter 1

“So why am I going to this charity ball or whatever these Midgardians---ah sorry, I forgot you found that term ‘insulting.’ Why do I need to go to this celebration, human,” the ruggedly handsome Loki Laufeyson questioned the businessman behind him. His hands ran across the smooth surface of his suit jacket, rather enjoying the silky texture underneath his fingertips Yes, he could easily just shape-shift a suit onto himself, but the frost giant found putting on and wearing actual clothing was far more comfortable than materializing it. Materialized clothing had that strange, almost synthetic texture to it which was something that Loki found...quite uncomfortable.

Materializing clothing on is far easier than pulling it on sleeve by sleeve. I can’t believe that the pathetic Midgardians have to go through that slow, tedious process of getting dressed every day. No wonder they’re so weak and annoying. If I had to do this every day, I’d go insane myself.

“Why can’t you just call me by my name, Loki? It’s Justin. Justin...Hammer, it isn’t that difficult to remember,” the eccentric businessman Justin Hammer replied coolly to Loki’s line of questioning. The man’s face was angular and pale, pointed like the predatory face of an African lion; his brown eyes were large and obtrusive, always judgemental as if he were a weird stalker of some sort. Justin’s face was drawn into sharp lines near and around his eyes, clearly expressing annoyance at Loki’s snarky and uncaring attitude.

“Oh, that was it? Justin Hambell? Oh, I mean...Hammer. That’s why I forgot your name, it’s so...forgetful. Really, how uncreative are you Midga---humans, you probably would call a river something like ‘Rabbit Ba-Babbit’ just because you wanted to sound humorous. Oh, I got it. ‘Denial River,’ because you humans always hate to admit the truth. Geez...truly, Justin, you’re just a toymaker,” Loki mocked Justin Hammer in response to his annoyed attitude. He wasn’t overly fond of the eccentric Hammer, he could be annoying and a bit too...demanding. After all, he was an Asgardian, a Frost Giant, an heir to two thrones...why should he bow down to the demands of a lowly businessman who complains every time his stock drops. “So, why am I going to this charity event, Hammer?”

“This is a mutual agreement, remember? You go in and get information for me on Stark, I offer you my services to help you in your plan to get back to Asgard to exact vengeance on your half-brother, Thor Odinson. That’s the only reason you’re--no--we’re going to be there. Get information about Stark Industries, about Stark. I need to get a one-up on their science division to remain ahead in the IT and future technology departments. Oh, and this Toymaker, yes this Toymaker...is the one helping you get back home. So I suggest you watch your words carefully,” Justin answered with little tonal shift in his voice save for the last two sentences of his monologue to Loki. “Now come on, we need to get going.”

Loki, for one, couldn’t help but laugh at the ‘threat’ that Justin tried on him. Pathetic. It was truly a pathetic attempt at trying to threaten him. Him, an Asgardian. “Oh, and what’re you going to do? Arrest me? Don’t make me laugh! No actually, do make me laugh, Justin,” Loki said with a sharp and humorous smile on his face. He truly found Midgardians the easiest to have fun with and to snark at. They were so simple-minded and easy to fool and make slip-up.

Loki ran a hand through his shoulder-length hair not once, but twice. He had to make sure he looked good, he didn’t need to look good for anyone in particular. Though he always believed that a good physical appearance spoke volumes about how confident and presentable he was to himself in his own mind and thoughts. The Asgardian turned away from the mirror to follow after Justin Hammer. Loki’s aqua blue eyes flashed down to the Midgardian watch strapped to his wrist, trying to see how late they would be. Five or ten minutes, depending entirely on traffic because of the Hel hole of New York City. Great, I have plenty of time to spend with this children’s toymaker. The sooner I’m off of Midgard, the better.

It didn't take long for the pair of well-dressed men to make it to the taxi that Hammer had called twenty minutes earlier. He stepped into the taxi first. Justin gave the taxi driver a small and warm smile, though that did nothing to dissipate the annoyance that was shown on the taxi driver’s face for being forced to wait for so long.

Soon after Justin Hammer, Loki followed him into the taxi, his eyes were drawn close together, seemingly perplexed and confused by what type of vehicle he was in.. He didn't know really what they we're even in, it seemed to be some strange horseless vehicle of some sort. “What...exactly is this contraption we're in,” Loki asked awkwardly as his mind buzzed with clueless thoughts as to what it was. He had been in an automobile once before, though he wasn’t in control of his body at that time. Even the mere thought of the Battle of New York still sent chills through Loki’s body. All he had been was a puppet. A puppet with strings pulled by the shadowy puppet master, the Mad Titan, Thanos. He had stabbed his brother...though he had done that beforehand just out of play, for fun. When the scepter that Thanos had given him had taken hold of his mind, Loki knew it had meant to kill his brother.

“This, Loki, is an NYC taxi. It’s how us ‘midgardians’ prefer to get around. It’s much more comfortable than walking, at least when there's no traffic. You see, it’s powered by a diesel engine, our own version of the ‘magic’ of Asgard,” Justin responded rather matter-of-factly to Loki’s genuine question. “Basically, it runs off of minerals from Earth and a number of other chemicals to make sure everything else runs probably. Don’t worry if you don’t understand how it works...I don’t much understand diesel engines myself---so we have that in common at least,” Justin continued, his tone shifting to a more relaxed and forgiving, almost sympathetic change.

“That we do, Justin. That we do,” Loki responded in earnest response. The deep-set eyes of the Jottun flickered to gaze out of the passenger window closest to him. His elbow laid against the armrest of the seat, with his white-knuckled fingers clenched together in a fist, holding up his head. The Asgardian assessed everything that was outside of his window, taking it all in and soaking in all of the different people and things he saw. There were so many people, so many of them. Some of them wore smiles of utter bewilderment and joyous wonder on their faces, others had frowns of disappointment and others had thin lines for mouths. The people of this...Earth, as they call it, are so unique. They’re strange and they’re annoying, but I suppose that there is a certain..beauty, albeit an alien one, to their way of life. New York City was someplace very different from Asgard. Asgard has buildings made of gold with ornate design, New York had buildings made of concrete with geometric shapes and angular lines. New York had somewhere between six to eight million people living within it, a single city. A single city with eight million people. And then there was Asgard, a floating planetoid with only about one-hundred thousand people living in it. It’s strange to think how many people live in the ‘city’ alone, it’s daunting even.

It didn’t take long for Loki to become lost in his own musings and thoughts as he often did become. Before he knew it, the taxi had stopped at the front of the building where the charity ball was being held...Avengers Tower., formerly Stark Tower though the Battle of New York had changed that. Loki moved his hand to the inside handle of the door, his fingers clenched tightly around the handle and he tried pulling it. Though it didn’t budge. Loki tried to pull the door open again, and it didn’t budge or move at all, again. Confused, Justin poked out his head to see what all the fuss was about. When he saw what Loki was doing, he couldn’t help but roll his eyes at the idiotic display Loki was putting on. “Loki, no, no stop...Lok--Thomas. No, you push the door open, don’t pull it open,” Justin said, ashamed at the pathetic display that Loki was putting up.

Well, I’m an utter and complete idiot. Loki’s cheeks turned a soft red in embarrassment as he pushed the door open. After doing so, he stepped out of the cramped and stuffy taxi, followed soon after by Justin. “I knew that. The magic you Midgardians employ on your machines is a bit tricky,” Loki lied casually through the blush on his cheeks. Even though he was a trickster and great at lying, he knew that Justin didn’t believe a word that he said. All Hammer did was give Loki a smile and a mocking nod of his head, knowing for a fact that Loki was lying about knowing how to open the door. He entertained the thought of Loki ‘knowing’ how to open the door of the taxi.

Reporters and photographers were to both sides of the entrance to Avengers Tower, snapping photos of the attendees to the charity ball event and interviewing famous people and celebrities who were attending the event which there were a lot of. Loki’s eyes jumped from photographer to photographer, reporter to reporter. His hands were shaking and his forehead felt cool with sweat. If somebody recognized him, he would be a dead man. Thor was looking for him amongst the Nine Realms after he escaped Thor’s custody. He didn’t have an army or any allies this time or even any weapons to help aid him in a fight, a materialized knife wouldn’t do the Asgardian any good against the Avengers. He didn’t need the attention, and he certainly didn’t want any of it. And he most certainly didn’t need to have another encounter with that ‘Hulk’ that the Avengers had. He had done a number on Loki last time, breaking a few ribs and mentally scarring him from the process the Hulk went through to subdue him. Even the mere thought of a second encounter with that...thing, send a shiver through Loki’s whole body. Don’t panic. Don’t you panic, Loki. You can handle this, just don’t act afraid or nervous like you’re not supposed to be here. Act natural.

Loki stiffened his back and kept his neck straight with his head pointed forwards as he walked to Justin’s side as the pair of men began their gauntlet through the entourage of nagging reporters and photographers. The eyes of the Asgardian were weary and alert, scanning the crowd for any photographers or reporters who were trying to take a picture of them or interview them. The whole time as they walked through the gauntlet, Loki’s hands shook, so much in fact, that he eventually just stuffed them into his pants pockets to try and stop his hands. It worked reasonably good enough and it helped him to calm his breathing to a gentle breath every few seconds instead of hurried and panic breaths at the thought of being caught.

After what felt like an eternity of damnation and torture, both Loki and Justin made it to the doors of the tower. Just as the two were about to step inside, however, they were stopped by the pleading voice of an African-American reporter. Reluctantly, the pair of well-dressed men made their way towards the male reporter, ready for any question he had for the pair of them. As the questions started to roll off of the man’s tongue, it seemed as though he was more interested in the CEO of Hammer Industries, Justin Hammer himself. To Loki, the questions were long and monotonous though he found that a few of the reporter’s questions were noteworthy and sounded rather important and useful. Loki was relieved that the reporter was talking to Justin alone and not him. He had just released a breath of anxiety when he heard the reporter’s next question, followed by a news camera taking a picture of both him and Hammer.

“Mr. Hammer, who is this friend of yours that you’re bringing to the Stark Charity Ball,” the reporter’s voice asked Justin. The reporter wasn’t meaning to do any harm to Loki, though Loki was hating the man with a passion now for drawing attention to him. He could have gone all night without attention from any reporters or photographers, in fact, he had wished for it.

Loki watched Justin cautiously and with a nervous expression etched onto his face, waiting for whatever he had planned for Loki’s human identity to take effect when he said it. Much to the Asgardians relief, Justin finally spoke up after a few beats of silence from the normally talkative businessman. “Oh, well this is Thomas Laufeyson, a foreign businessman from England. He flew with me back to the United States after a recent business call I went to in London. He came with me to see New York City and to make some acquaintances and potential business partners in the States.”

“He looks remarkably similar to the genocidal tyrant, Loki, who attacked New York City over a year ago, what do you say about this, Mr. Laufeyson?”

Loki’s eyes went wide when the reporter addressed him directly, he was at a loss for what to say. He hadn’t been listening to the question, though Loki didn’t need to know to know what the reporter had asked him. He considered himself a rather proficient cold reader and he knew that there was primarily only one question the reporter would ask. ‘Why do you look so similar to Loki,’ was what the Asgardian assumed the reporter had asked him. Loki didn’t give much thought about what he should say in answer to the reporter. He just went off of the top of his head, which, in most cases, worked rather well.

“People have asked me that question a countless number of times since the Battle of New York, and I’ve all given them the same answer. It’s just a mere coincidence, unfortunate similarities between me and that genocidal maniac.”

With that, the reporter had finished asking his questions, releasing Justin and Loki from his firm grasp of anxiety he had them in. At once, a wave of relief washed over Loki as the two of them walked into Avenger’s Tower and then subsequently the elevator which would transport them up to the main room where the charity ball was being held.

Loki walked and carried himself with more self-confidence that he had when he walked out of the taxi. It was just something simple -- like that -- like being able to somehow remain calm and answer the reporter’s question calmly that instilled a sense of confidence and self-worth into the otherwise questionable and self-loathing Asgardian. Feeling a hand pat him on the back, Loki looked to his right to see Justin. He was giving him a gentle pat of confidence which Loki found bewildering considering the two of them weren’t particularly fond of each other.

Justin leaned in close to Loki’s ears, meaning to whisper something to the Jotuun. “Remember, your name is Thomas Laufeyson, you’re from England. And uh, remember to try and get some information from Stark.”

“Yes, I remember. It should be easy to get information from Tony Stark, he wasn’t a particularly smart Midgardian during New York despite his flying suits of iron.”

“Tony -- who’s Tony Stark? Him?,” Hammer questioned as if though Loki was thinking of the wrong person. His eyes found Loki’s eyes, making eye contact with him as he spoke to him, flabbergasted that somehow the Asgardian didn’t know the truth despite meeting Stark. “No, no...she, Stark is a woman. Geez, that battle must have really done a number on you, huh?”

“Uh...yeah, yeah sure,” Loki replied quickly.

That, that’s not right. Stark isn’t a woman, his name is Tony Stark. He is not a she, right? Maybe that monster of theirs really did do quite the number on my memory when he pummeled me into the ground. Maybe it was being mind-controlled by the scepter which confused my mind and made my memories all rattled and wrong. Loki’s mind was a mess as everything he knew about Stark, Tony Stark was a lie. He could have sworn that there was a Tony Stark, but Justin was telling him otherwise. And Loki knew that Justin wasn’t lying. Everyone had some tell-tale sign of lying, and Loki knew what Hammer’s sign was...he wasn’t lying.

Loki didn’t pursue the question regarding Stark anymore, he would find out for himself when he saw Stark at the charity ball. Something which wouldn’t take long. Justin and Loki were met with more party attendances as more people stepped into the elevator alongside them, much to the Asgardians discomfort and discontent because of how crowded the small space was starting to get. It didn’t take long for the elevator to fill up somewhat and then be off on it’s journey to the charity ball floor. And they were on that floor in almost an instant. The pair of men allowed everyone else in the elevator to file out first before they finally filed out of the cramped area which was the elevator. After getting out of the elevator, Loki followed after Justin who sat down at a table.

“So, Justin, what do we do now?,” Loki asked the businessman who sat to his right.

He never got a response from Justin Hammer as somebody walked over. Loki had never seen the person beforehand though he was instantly transfixed and mesmerized by her appearance. He found her to be quite beautiful, despite his distaste for all things of Midgard and all Midgardians. However, her beauty wasn’t the sole reason he was transfixed by her appearance, it was only a small sliver of the reason his eyes locked onto her. It was something about the woman’s face that made Loki’s memory flip-flop and manic as if he had seen this woman beforehand. Though he knew that he hadn’t. At least, he believed that he hadn’t seen her before.

“Took you long enough Justin, and here I thought you were avoiding me,” the woman said cooly with a snarky tone to her voice. Justin scoffed at her response, offering the woman a mock wave of hello. “It’s good to see you too, Antonia,” Justin casually replied. With his eyes, he gestured from Loki to the woman back to Loki. At first, the Asgardian didn’t understand what he was trying to get at. Though, eventually, he did catch on to what the man was saying. This woman was Miss Stark, Antonia Stark. The name rung a bell of remembrance in Loki’s memories as did her smooth and strikingly beautiful heart-shaped face; Antonia’s brunette hair was pulled back in a messy ponytail that wrapped from the back of her neck to lay down her right shoulder with small whisps and strands of brown hair sticking out in such a way that Loki found it beautiful that everything about her wasn’t so cut-and-dry perfect.

“Who is this devilishly handsome friend of yours, Justin?” Antonia asked with a shy smile on her face. With his spurge of self-confidence from earlier, Loki stood up and extended out his hand to shake the woman’s hand in a warm greeting. His mouth was carved into a fake smile, still remembering the fight and battle that the two of them had during the Battle of New York.

“Oh, me? I’m flattered, the names Thomas Laufeyson and I take it you’re the genius, billionaire, narcissistic, philanthropist Antonia Stark? It’s a pleasure to make your acquaintance, Miss Stark,” Loki spoke warmly as if he were being genuine, which he wasn’t. It was easy for him to lie and fake emotions, it was the thing he was best at in life...though it didn’t offer him much of significance within the sight and magnitude of power of his brother Thor. But it did allow the Asgardian to meet people easily and to manipulate them easily.

“Haha, that’s me the billionaire genius, and you’re a...loki-alike,” Antonia said, laughing softly at her own joke she had made up right on the spot.

Loki rolled his eyes at Stark’s little joke and jab at him. It was clever he would give her that and maybe just a little bit funny, though it wasn’t anything too spectacular or out there. “Ha, sure I am. And you’re the...what again? Oh yeah, you’re the hero in the suit of armor, take that away and what are you really?”

“Stark Naked!,” Antonia said with a mischievous wink that could be taken a multitude of different ways. Though, Loki, for one, thought she was just blinking strangely.

At that, Loki laughed. He actually laughed at what Antonia had said in response to his snarkiness. The Asgardian admitted that what she had just said was actually funny, having earned a good and hearty laugh out of him. Though a laugh wasn’t the only thing it earned out of him, it also caused the Jotuun to blush. Something that he rarely ever did save for when he was embarrassed. He didn’t know why what Antonia said made him blush. He looked away from her for a few moments, though his blush didn’t dissipate from his cheeks, much to his dismay.

Unbeknownst to Loki, Antonia had noticed the blush that crept up the man’s neck and cheeks. She found the little blush he gave off because of what she said rather cute and adorable, almost like he was a lost puppy.

Lucky for Loki, Antonia’s attention shifted to Justin Hammer, the two of them discussing who knows what. He was glad that her attention had shifted away, that her melancholy brown eyes were no longer gazing at him as if he were some lost, wounded animal. He didn’t want to be pitied, least of all by the noble lady Stark. Loki went into deep thought about things he didn’t need, about things that were useless to him, such as a phone. Justin had offered to give him one a while back to try and help with communication between the two. Though Loki had strictly denied it, mostly because he didn’t even know how to work a phone though he would never tell Justin that.

In truth, he didn’t want to be at this event and he believed that Justin’s ‘goal’ in using him was stupid and completely idiotic. Yes, trust a demi-god with parental issues who is very mischievous with your half-assed plan! Oh, Misgardians like Justin are a pain, that is certain and true. Though, he promised to me that he would send me back to Asgard, my home. I’ll have to trust him...at least for now.

Loki hadn’t realized how long he had been in deep thought, sitting there in his chair. Sulking. That’s what it looks like from afar, a nervous and depressed sulking of the otherwise sassy and snarky demigod. He wasn’t trying to look suspicious or upset, or alone. Though, that was what it appeared s. In truth, Loki was just mulling over mindless thoughts to try and distract himself and make the party go by faster. He wasn’t one for parties or dances or whatever this whole thing was.

A warm hand curled itself around Loki’s shoulder, trying to get his attention. As soon as it had touched his shoulder, the Asgardian jumped in surprise at the sudden contact from a stranger.

Loki jerked his head to the side to try and see who it was that had tapped him on the shoulder, he was surprised to see the face of Antonia Stark dragging him off of his feet to stand up. Reluctantly, Loki stood up...and he was taller than her, forcing Antonia to look up at him to try and meet his eyes with hers.

“Hey, what’s up buttercup --yeah, that was a really bad one. But, hey, I was wondering if you would want to dance with me? I mean, I’ve always wanted to dance with an Aragorn look-a-like though I suppose you’ll have to do for now,” Antonia said, a smile drawn across her face.

“Oh uh, sure. But I don’t...I don’t…”

“You don’t what?”

“Well, I don’t know --- I don’t know how to dance,” Loki said with a nervous smile and a blush growing on his cheeks.

“Oh? Really, a man of your handsomeness? Well, I’ll show you. If you step on my feet, I’ll step on yours with my stilettos,” Loki hoped that she was joking, however, the serious look on her face said otherwise

Antonia dragged Loki into an open space in the room, where people were all either dancing or chatting around them to the gentle hum of the music. Her left hand grabbed his right hand firmly, while with her right hand, she guided his left hand to lay against her lower back. Antonia took charge of the dancing duo, moving to the beat of the music to which Loki followed her footsteps and movements. Whereas her movements were practices and graceful as though she had done this thousands of times beforehand, the movements of Loki’s were slow and clumsy.

The two of them moved at first, out of sync with each other’s movements and they moved clumsily. As the two tried to sync their movements in tune with each other, Loki’s foot accidentally came down on Antonia’s foot. Her face scrunched up in pain before she not-so-gently stepped on his foot in response. Loki’s grimaced from the pain of his foot being stabbed by a stiletto and he was met with a disapproving grin and small, gentle chuckle.

“Hey I warned you, Tom,” Antonia said with a laugh at Loki’s clumsiness. Loki had to give her the benefit of the doubt, she had been honest about stepping on his foot if he had stepped on hers.

The Asgardian found it strange to be in such close proximity to someone he had considered his enemy, to somebody he still considered to be an enemy of his. What Loki found even stranger than being in close proximity to her, was just how...friendly she was acting. She did bite at people with snarky and sassy insults, though she generally seemed like a genuine, nice person. At least to Loki, she seemed that way. He had overheard a few of the things that Antonia had told Mr. Hammer and it didn’t take him long to assume that the two of them had a strained ‘friendship’ as business partners.

When Loki and Antonia had first met it was under extremely different circumstances than they were meeting now. For one, Antonia thought he was just Thomas now, not Loki. They weren’t at each other’s throats like they had been in the Battle of New York. No. They were dancing now, something which felt completely foreign to the Asgardian and it made him feel dirty and gross, dancing with a Midgardian in close proximity, laughing at her jokes.

“Antonia, I’ve been wondering, what is it that you invent? I’ve seen so many headlines in England about your inventions. What, besides that suit of yours. The --- Iron Woman suit, right?”

“Really, you’re actually...interested in that sort of stuff? Or, wait, is this just some kind of ploy Hammer is pulling to get me to spill my secrets. If so, then I’m not talking,” Antonia said with a huff of annoyance directed towards the idea of Justin doing that. She didn’t put it past the man to do it, hell, she knew that he often tried to get the secrets to her inventions to capitalize on what she made herself. Dirty, filthy rat Hammer is. He always has been, and he’s rather creepy as well.

“No, no it’s none of that. I’m just...look I’m just curious about what you’ve created. Since when did you not enjoy talking about yourself, you narcissistic bastard?,” Loki said, emphasizing the ‘narcissistic bastard’ part with mock authority and judgment. He was trying to try and poke a jab at the woman, he couldn’t tell if he had gone too far or just far enough to make her laugh. He wasn’t great at realizing what he was saying and with what tone, much similarity, controlling his emotions as well. Which, which was evidenced by his ‘father,’ Odin, falling into the Odinsleep. He had blamed himself ever since that happened, believing that it was his own fault for it happening.

“You know me well then, half-assed Aragorn. Well, first of all, you got the name of my suit wrong. I don’t go by ‘Ironwoman,’ I go by the ‘Iron Maiden.’ I just find that it rolls off of the tongue rather well which is why I chose it. And, well...it sounds more badass. I mean, come on. Iron Woman sounds like something that would come out of a cliche Adam Sandler performance, it just is lame and boring. Whereas Iron Maiden actually instills a sense of pride, joy, and badassery into me...which is a feeling I’ve always enjoyed,” Antonia said slowly and thoughtfully. Unlike when she had been talking earlier, Loki could tell that she was putting thought into what she was saying, actually delving into her own emotions some. However, when she began talking again, all of that emotion shifted away to her usual, snarky attitude. “Sorry for rambling on. I’m like one of those vinyl disk players. I wouldn’t know when to stop going on until somebody stops me. Anything else you’d like to know about your ever so charming host?”

 

“Oh please, that honestly cannot be all of the inventions of the Great Antonia Stark. Come on, what else have you made?”

“Well, if you insist on me rambling on then I’ll continue,” she said quickly, blushing at hearing that Loki called her the ‘great Antonia Stark,’ she found it flattering of him. “I did make an arc reactor, basically a limitless source of clean and renewable power. And if you want to know how I made it...well I don’t know! It kind of just all came to me one night when I was trying to drown myself on alcohol like I always do. Then, uh, let’s see...I made my own element in a garage…”

Antonia went on talking and talking about all of her inventions, much to Loki’s enjoyment. Unlike Justin Hammer, Antonia was likable yet she was still somewhat of snarky just like Justin. Though, it was in a cute way Loki found. Though he dreaded Stark, he found her, as a person, she was actually a rather laid back and fun person to talk with. He still wasn’t one-hundred percent on board with the idea of annoying Midgardians, like Antonia was. Though, he found her at the very least, sufferable and not as annoying as most despite her talkativeness.

Over time, however, the conversation seemed to drag on and so did Loki’s thoughts. Out of boredom alone, his eyes glanced down and across Antonia’s body and dress. He needed to find the best place and quickest place to stab her encase things went south fast and she found out that he was Loki. When Loki looked down at the front of her dress though, he could have sworn that he was seeing things. There was no arc reactor, anywhere. He knew it would be above her bust some, though he couldn’t see any blue light emitting from her upper chest to signify if there was an arc reactor. The Asgardian assumed that the fabric of her red dress was concealing it from view, though he wasn’t sure as to why. Was it gone? Was it missing? Was it purposely hidden from sight?

“Hey, what are you doing,” Antonia said with an accusatory tone. At the sound of her voice, Loki’s eyes jumped upwards to meet her eyes, a crimson blush staining his pale cheeks.

“Me? Please, I wasn’t doing anything I was just...just…”

“You were just...trying to stare at my boobs, huh? Aw, don’t be embarrassed, it actually happens more times than you think. Please don’t worry about it, I’m flattered that people actually do that, including you. Here’s a word of advice, Mr. Laufeyson, next time ask for permission before you start to stare. Otherwise, people may think you’re up to something.~”

“No, no trust me it wasn’t like that. I -- I mean, you’re beautiful and all, you’re cute in that dress but I ---,” Loki mumbled out quick enough only for Antonia to hear what he had said. 

After hearing and processing what he himself said, Loki’s cheeks turned a bright crimson. He hadn’t meant to say that much. He had just mainly been trying to come up with an excuse that would make sense other than the truth. I was staring at you to find the best way to kill you. I was staring at you to try and figure out where your arc reactor was. Yeah telling her that would definitely have not been good. Shit, what is she going to do now? Punch me, shoot me? So much for trying to be semi-honest with her to try and get her to actually trust me.

To the surprise of the Asgardian, he caught sight of a hint of red on Stark’s tanned cheeks. Her eyes looked nervously into his and then away, and then back into his eyes, and then away again. There was silence between the two of them as they moved now, in sync, to the gentle hum and notes of the music. After a minute or two of no communication between the two, the silence became broken when Antonia spoke up.

“That’s uhm...that’s really nice of you to say, that means a lot to me..especially coming from someone who I’ve only known for the night, like you!” Antonia said warily, the smile on her face though, betrayed her wary voice.


End file.
